Roseville celebrates new downtown art movement with mural crawl, Blue Line Gallery brings art to the public on big scale

If you enjoy walking down historic downtown streets, looking at murals painted by local artists or drinking a pint of beer at your neighborhood bar, this Saturday's Mural and Wrap Party hosted by Blue Line Gallery in Roseville is the place for you. On Saturday, the Blue Line Gallery will host a tour of five new murals painted by local artists along buildings in the downtown district of Vernon Street. The tour includes visiting three downtown bars to support the gallery's and the Downtown Roseville Partnership's Roseville Mural Project. "We thought that it would be a pretty fun way to not only get a tour of the murals but to encourage the people who are participating in the mural tour to see the bars and the restaurants that we have here in Downtown Roseville and have a new appreciation for the area," Blue Line Co-Director MaryTess Mayall said. The project began almost a year ago last July when newly appointed Blue Line co-directors Mayall and Brooke Abrames were approached by the Downtown Roseville Partnership with the idea of creating a large public art project in the downtown area. The idea was part inspired by the Wide Open Walls project that began in Sacramento in 2017 and also because Roseville officials wanted more attention drawn to the downtown area. When the project first began, Abrames and Mayall ran into a financial issue. They had no funds to begin the project and the city had nothing in its budget for public arts projects. Support was found though as local businesses, political officials and city organizations gave money, wall space, supplies, future maintenance of the walls and other project essentials. "I think when you have a visual project like this that has a pretty good appeal, there are definitely property owners that want to put money toward this," Abrames said. The project also gained interest from 60 artists, applying from as far away as Florida to be a part of this project. Five local artists were chosen for the project. The wall of Lucy's Salon is a very iconic location because, for decades, that wall has been home to a deteriorating mural of roses. Tasked with bringing this wall back to life is 29-year-old Madelyne Joan Templeton. "When I first saw the wall, I was actually intimidated because of the condition it was in because it looked like you could see the history on this wall through the peeling and the layers of paint," Templeton said. "It looked like it was two murals before mine and one was a mint color beneath the roses so it was nice to bring back the color from the original mural." Templeton was inspired by vintage wallpaper and the blend of the vintage design with the young girl is to represent the incoming youth culture into Roseville. "It feels like there is this new movement and momentum that is building and going faster and faster and I am honored that my painting will be a part of that and the direction of the art movement," Templeton said. This will be Templeton's largest wall to date. "I think this project is really important for the city to come and wake up and appreciate their buildings and businesses along Vernon Street," Mayall said, "and we really want to encourage residents and visitors alike to walk all the way up and down Vernon Street and to really discover the different shops, restaurants and different offerings that it has." The Mural Crawl and Wrap Party starts at 4 p.m. Saturday at the Blue Line Gallery, 405 Vernon St., Suite 100. Tickets start at $25 and include swag items such as sunglasses, bracelets, food and drinks. For more information or to buy tickets, visit https://www.bluelinearts.org/event/muralcrawl.